You Can Crush
by Dee31
Summary: ThreeShot Songfic: Gabriella and Troy grew up together and are the classic best friends. They've always been there for each other even when Troy got a girlfriend who Gabriella didn't exactly love. Who could when you're in love with your best friend?
1. You Belong With Me

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places created by the High School Musical franchise or by Disney nor the songs used in this story by various artists._

Part 1 - Gabriella's POV – You Belong With Me

_You're on the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset  
She's going off about something that you said  
She doesn't get your humor like I do_

_I'm in the room, it's a typical Tuesday night  
I'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like  
And she'll never know your story like I do_

I cannot help but roll my eyes as I hear my childhood best friend, Troy Bolton, apologize profusely, for the millionth time tonight, over the phone to his girlfriend of two months, the great Katherine Anderson, for something that really wasn't that big of a deal. I mean, if Troy had told Katherine she was a bitch or something, I'd see Katherine being upset but not over this. This was just Katherine being fussy.

"Babe, please, I'm so sorry. I was just joking about Chad and me raiding the locker room at the next basketball game while you girls are changing. Kat, the only girl I'd want to see in that state of undress is you…"

Seriously, gag me! Ugh, I honestly thought we'd have a good chance of having a real nice Tuesday night, a tradition Troy and I have had since we were little where I'd come over to his house and just watch TV or listen to music. Currently, I am laying on my stomach, my chin propped on my palms as I try to focus on the music that is now playing quieter because of Troy's call with his girlfriend. It is one of the old Incubus CDs, one of my favorites in fact, and I hate not being able to blast it like usual but understand that now wouldn't be appropriate, especially as Troy shot me a nasty look just a few moments earlier when I attempted to drown out his pleading tone with the music.

"Kat, please, it was just a joke. No, I won't be leading the Varsity team into the girls' locker room anytime soon. I'm a prankster at heart, I'm sorry."

Now see, this is where I, as the faithful best friend, turn to him and give Troy the most sympathetic look I can muster, knowing though that this was complete bullshit that he had to go through with Katherine the Goddess. It's not that I hate Katherine. I just don't love her. And why? There are a number of reasons.

The way her giggle is like nails on a chalkboard is one, the other is the way she snorts when she full out laughs. Katherine also has the tendency to expect the world plus more from everyone in her life, from her parents to Troy. See, Katherine comes from a rich family, probably as rich as the Evans twins, Sharpay and Ryan. More than anything, Katherine is used to getting her way and getting what she wants, when she wants it. Of course, this is more reason why I was actually surprised when Troy started taking interest in the cheerleader at the start of senior year. Then again, should it have been a surprise considering the fact that Katherine clearly wanted _him_?

_But she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts  
She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers  
Dreaming bout the day when you'll wake up and find  
That what you're lookin for has been here the whole time_

_Him_. Troy Bolton. My best friend since childhood. The guy who knows me inside and out. The one who is practically my other half. While we were growing up, we each went through that phase of "Eww, boys have germs" and "Yuck, girls have cooties," yet we were the exception to each other's list. Perhaps, as I think about it now, that is the root of our problem, well mine. See, at some point during sophomore year in high school, I developed feelings for my best friend that weren't all that appropriate for a best friend.

As Troy runs a frustrated hand over his recently cut dark brown hair, I'm reminded of the first time I saw him flip his longer and lighter brown hair back then and for the first time got dazzled by his sparkling cerulean eyes while we were laughing about a funny memory he had brought up. It had been during a Tuesday night during the summer, a night we had actually spent at my house, out in the backyard with our families.

_We slowly rocked in the hammock along with the light breeze that brought some minor relief to the heat Albuquerque had been experiencing. It was my favorite night of all, just hanging out with my family but also Troy and his family._

_"Seriously, Ella, can you believe that Sharpay lived to see the next day? I seriously thought Chad was going to go ballistic on her!" Troy exclaimed, laughing as he finished recalling the latest incident that had happened between Sharpay and Troy's other childhood best friend, Chad Danforth. "I mean, you know how touchy Chad is about his hair!"_

_"Which is why it's even funnier," I sputtered, recalling the image of Chad with one side of his hair significantly shorter. "God, I don't think he's ever going to take a nap at her place again."_

_"Troy! Gabriella! Dinner is ready!" his mother called out, smiling at us as she spotted us looking back at her._

_"All right, we'll be there in a second," Troy got out, still laughing before he got up from the hammock, turning to help me up._

_When he took my hand in his and pulled me up, Troy also flipped his long bangs out of his face, smiling down at me while now chuckling, his laughter mingling with mine before mine instantly died on my lips. I had to swallow as I stared into his twinkling eyes, feeling a strange spark run through my body that started at our joined hands and went through my entire nervous system. It was a feeling like no other, something so foreign to me that I didn't know what to do but try to act like nothing just changed between us._

_I swore when it was clear that Troy too realized my weird behavior as he gave me a concerned look, no longer laughing. "Ella, you okay? You look pale."_

_"Umm, yeah," I stumbled out, mentally kicking myself for that lack of smoothness. "We better go eat before your dad comes over and threatens to make us do suicides for being late to the dinner table or something."_

_Troy seemed to take it as his body visible relaxed and he grinned once again at me. "Oh come on Gabriella, he's only done that a handful of times and those were all at my house. You don't have a basketball court here for him to make us do them on."_

_"Kids, if you aren't here in twenty seconds not only is your food going to be cold but I'll make you run suicides in this heat. I don't need a basketball court to make you do them!"_

_I grimaced as I heard Jack, hurrying Troy along and giving him a satisfied smirk as we barely made it by Jack's allotted time, finding some relief from the strange new feeling as I gave Troy a smug look and saw him silently acknowledge my being right yet again about something._

I snap out of my memory just in time to hear Troy hang up and let out a frustrated groan. "Everything okay?" I force myself to ask.

"Yeah, no, I don't know," Troy sighs, plopping down on the bed with his back against his comforter before he turns his head to look at me. "Why are girls so complicated? I mean, seriously? It was just a prank that I had truly once upon thought about but that was like ages ago. Kat has just been so, I don't know, difficult lately. Why do all chicks seem to be like that?"

Blood seeps into my mouth as I bite down on my tongue hard not to say anything that is the truth, that I want to say. Giving advice to my crush, who is also my best friend, when it comes to his girlfriends was never easy for me. But I do it, in the nicest way possible, because it's _him_, the better part of me. "First, us chicks do have something called hormones. While male hormones tend to lead them to want to see their girlfriend in a certain state of undress, female hormones can make us a bit more emotional. Second, I think I take offense to that."

_If you could see that I'm the one who understands you  
Been here all along so why can't you see?  
__You belong with me__  
You belong with me_

There we go again, his dismissal of me being recognized as part of the female population in Troy's books, all delivered by a simple roll of his eyes at me. "You know Gabriella that you aren't like the rest of them. You're Gabriella, my best friend. You're way better than all of those girls put together."

Then why am I not the one you are longing for? The one you want to kiss good night? The one that you're planning on taking to the party after the game on Friday?

"Besides that, you never get irrational on me, ever. You're always so grounded and, well, normal. You never flip out on me either."

"I could start," I offer in an attempt to hide my disappointment with this conversation, knowing it would never turn out the way I secretly want it to. What I would give for him to wake up and see me and feel the way I feel for him. It'll never happen though, that much I've come to realize in the little over two years of crushing on him that has gone by. Stupid hair flip that started all of this…

Troy shakes his head at me though, reaching out a hand to brush back some of my hair before laying his right hand against my left cheek. It takes super strength from me not to lean into it or to sigh, both of which naturally bubbled forth for me to do. Side effects of crushing on a hot but also wonderful guy. "Don't, don't change Ella, please, especially to become like them. I don't know what I would do without you as my best friend."

Ah, the damning words yet again… _my best friend_.

_Walkin the streets with you in your worn out jeans  
I can't help thinking this is how it ought to be  
Laughing on the park bench thinkin to myself  
Hey isn't this easy?_

_And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town  
I haven't seen it in awhile, since she brought you down  
You say you're fine, I know you better than that  
Hey, whatcha doing with a girl like that?_

A few weeks have now passed since that night in Troy's bedroom and I can't help but notice how quiet he's become. The usually bright blue orbs have been a dull gray, especially these last few days. I can see something is troubling him but he keeps to himself, not telling me more than it's just issues with Katherine.

That news should delight me, right? But it doesn't. It can't because this means that Troy is hurting because of her, that she's sucked the natural joy that lives in his veins right out by doing whatever she's doing. I've asked Chad if he knows anything but he's as clueless as me. Troy has shut us both out and all we both can conclude is that Katherine is breaking Troy's heart in one way or the other.

As Troy and I walk to our neighborhood's park, I cannot help but wonder what really is going on in his mind. I think back to this past week, the way Katherine seemed to be practically glaring darts at me, something she has started doing recently now that I think of it.

Could I be the reason why they are fighting or whatever is going on between them? No way, that would mean Troy actually likes me like that and that's so not happening. Did I say something that pissed her off?

I can't recall anything though, as hard as I try thinking of the last time I really spoke to her, when our group of friends were hanging out. Without trying hard, I can see the way her dirty blonde hair blew in the night air two weekends ago when we all went mini-golfing on Saturday night, seeing the way Troy's fingers easily slid through them before he kissed her.

_"Now Ella, make sure to keep your yellow golf ball on the course this time. I'm not swimming in the lake to get it for you tonight," Troy teased from where he was standing right behind me as I tried to focus on making my first putt on our fifth course and not on the electricity I felt in the air with him standing so close to me._

_"Shut up Wildcat. Some of us aren't golf addicts like you," I countered, narrowing my eyes on the track I wanted my ball to travel in order to make a hole in one, a far shot for me but worth a try. The curve and ramp of course made it a bit more impossible but since I was already dreaming of being with my best friend, which clearly wasn't going to happen, I may as well attempt this too, right?_

_There was silence for a few beats before I felt someone grip my hips, glancing behind me and gasping as I saw Troy looking right at me, a smile on his lips. "Fine, let's do this together. I'll show you."_

_I silently nodded and turned my head back around, catching Sharpay's and Taylor McKessie's smirks on their faces and blushing, hating how I already knew that I'd be teased later on for this. Within moments, I feel Troy's calloused hands touch my bare arms, sliding down to rest on my hands that are gripping the golf club._

_"Ease up on your grip, Gabriella. You want to guide it, not choke the poor club."_

_I heard the chuckle in his voice and wanted to melt right into him, never being as close to his body as I was now. Sure, we've hugged each other plenty of time and even just napped in each other's arms, in a platonic way of course, but the way his body curved around mine… It gave me shivers._

_"Are you cold Ella?"_

_"No," I weakly got out, wondering if he could hear the way he made my heart hammer so hard against my ribcage._

_By the time I was able to focus again on the present moment, I had just heard the tail end of Troy's last instructions to me, scolding myself in my head for not having listened better, knowing now that I was definitely going to make a fool of myself._

_Troy didn't let that happen though and I wasn't actually all that surprised that he didn't. Instead, Troy stayed with me, there at the top of the course, and helped me bring back the club and follow through with it after it hit the bright yellow golf ball. My eyes closed involuntarily after the golf ball started moving on its way, savoring the feeling of being in his arms, of him touching me, snapping open as I heard him crow in victory._

_"Yes! I knew I could help you get a hole in one! Who is the master? Huh? Who is the master?"_

_Quickly, I pushed aside my feelings to turn around to face him, Troy no longer touching me, and glared at him. "Is that all that was? Just another thing to do to prove that you are the resident golf pro?"_

_My questions seemed to make Troy stumble a bit before he gave me a bashful look, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's an accomplishment, on both of our parts," he tried to soothe, stopping his little happy dance._

_I was about to say something back when a pair of pale arms wrapped themselves around Troy's waist, Katherine's face appearing right over his shoulder as she kissed his neck. Before my very eyes, my best friend morphed into her boyfriend, turning in her hold and looking down at her as if they were the only two people in the world._

_"Good job baby. You were wonderful," I heard Katherine coo._

_Troy wrapped his left arm around her body while he used his right hand to push back some of her dirty blonde strands of her lengthy hair she had left down for the night, seeing his fingers slide easily, effortlessly, through. "Thanks babe."_

_When they leaned into each other to kiss, I watched just a moment long enough to see their lips connect before looking away and trying to tune out everything that had to do with the couple I desperately wish I was a part of, in her place, wishing Troy could see me the way he saw her._

Since then, I made it a mission to avoid Troy when Katherine was around, unable to stomach seeing them together. It seems though that I didn't have to try hard as I've seen them frequently enough in the halls of East High but not together usually and when they were together those few times, things looked tense, confirming for sure that something was going on between them.

Troy and I take a seat automatically on the bench that had been our place to sit and think in our teen years, under a tree that we had climbed when we were little, thinking we were on top of the world up there, never realizing that there were buildings that were taller than this little tree that now sat behind us and hung over our heads.

Despite Troy's silence and my worry about him, we sit comfortably on the bench, Troy's arm naturally curling around my shoulders as I lean my head on his shoulder, the way we often sat here, together, enjoying the quiet of the night. A part of me realizes that if anyone should ever walk by and see us, they'd make the mistake of thinking we are a true couple instead of one only in my dreams.

What bothers me the most though is that I know I could make Troy happier, much happier than Katherine ever has and could. It was me that knew how he got that scar on the bottom of his chin, knowing he split it on a dresser when he and Chad were jumping on Troy's bed against my own warning at the time. I think we were about six. I remember his tears and his cry, me trying to soothe him while Chad ran off to get Troy's mom.

That small scar on his left knee was when he and I got into a joint bike accident when we were first learning how to ride a bike without the training wheels, with our fathers pushing us along. I took a tumble first after my dad let me go and then Troy collided right into me and then over me after I was on the ground, scraping his knee and hand in the process. In fact, funny enough, I have an almost identical scar on my own left knee from that same incident.

I must have laughed despite me thinking I was just doing it in my head because Troy's eyes are now searching mine. "What?" I can't help but ask.

"What's so funny?" he questions, a quizzical look on his face.

"Oh, umm," I pause, stumbling while I try to figure out what to say, what could be appropriate considering his misery. I decide on the truth. "Well, I was thinking of how we got our matching scars."

It takes Troy a few moments but a slight smile crosses his lips, the first I've seen in a while, even if it is minor. "You mean how you gave me mine?"

My jaw drops in shock and I feign hurt as I pull away from him, crossing my arms for effect while he starts to chuckle, music to my ears. "I did no such thing!"

"Oh come on Ella, admit it. If you hadn't lost your balance first and then crashed right in my way, I wouldn't have been hurt!"

I am about to defend myself when I catch sight of Troy's grin, deciding in that instant that if this is what it took for Troy to smile like that, I'd suffer in silence. Then again, I can't let him get away scott-free or he really will think it was all my fault. "Cause you are so graceful you wouldn't have hurt yourself on your own, right? What about the time you ran right through the screen door, popping it off its track, when you and I were playing war in your house?"

"Again, your fault. You were chasing me," he teases, chuckling as I roll my eyes. "You were always the chaser."

Still am in some ways Troy. "And what does that tell you Troy if I was the one chasing you with a working toy gun with those fun Nerf balls? It means I was always the winner!"

I give him a triumphant look while he further dissolves into laughter. "All right, I give you that, most of the time. God, how I really wish we could just go back in time and live the worry free life we had back then Ella. Things have always just been so good, so easy with you. I wish every girl I ever dated and date could be like you."

Hello Captain Oblivious! That clearly means something, right???

Before I seize on the opportunity to say something to him, Troy pushes on. "Thanks Gabriella, for being such an amazing best friend to me. I'm one hell of a lucky guy to have not only two childhood best friends but one especially who is as special as you are. My life wouldn't be the same without you in it."

I allow Troy to pull me back into his side, turning my head so he can't see the tears welled up in my eyes. "You mean quite a deal to me too Troy, a great deal. More than I think you could ever imagine."

Quickly, I wipe away a tear, struggling against the thickness in my throat that threatens to choke me as the emotional moment overwhelms me. It's faint, almost inaudible, but if I believe my ears actually heard it and I wasn't dreaming, I hear him reply, "I understand that feeling more than you could possibly imagine Gabriella…"

_Oh I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night  
I'm the one who makes you laugh when you know you're about to cry  
I know your favorite songs and you tell me about your dreams  
I think I know where you belong. I think I know it's with me._

_Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you?  
Been here all along so why can't you see?  
You belong with me_

Another week and some odd passes by and I'm getting more worried about Troy as time goes on. We had our usual Tuesday outing in his room but he was so stiff, so distant, that I left after an hour. I couldn't tell if I had done something, in fact I had asked him that and Troy had denied that it was anything I did. Instead of putting myself through the torture of seeing him clearly bothered and suffering when Troy clearly didn't want to talk to me, I left. Since then, things only seemed to get worse, Troy keeping his distance from me, his smile vanished once again.

I glance at one of the numerous pictures of us together through the years, each one smiling and with each other, wondering helplessly how things got to be this way. For sure, I know after racking my brain for the past several nights with little sleep that I didn't do anything. I've made sure to be supportive of him in every way, including the times it involved Katherine.

Shrugging my shoulders, I sigh before tearing my gaze away from the pictures, looking down at the open textbook in front of me there on my bed, focusing just enough to copy down a formula down in my notebook next to me.

Half an hour later, I jump as I hear a series of loud bangs against my balcony doors. I glance up from where I am laying on my bed to see a silhouetted figured I'd recognize anywhere, thankful I have my balcony light on so I can at least see that it is in fact Troy through my curtains. Then comes his voice. "Ella! Gabriella! Please, open up!"

"Troy?" No way! What the hell is he doing over here in the middle of the late night?

Quickly, I scramble off my bed to open the balcony door, letting a panicked looking Troy through before closing the door again. "Troy, what's wrong? What's the matter?"

I meet his blue eyes as he stands there, panting as he tries to catch his breath, trying to understand what is going on in his mind just then. "Troy?"

_Standing by or waiting at your back door  
All this time how could you not know that  
You belong with me  
You belong with me_

_Have you ever thought just maybe  
You belong with me  
You belong with me_


	2. Can You Handle It

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places created by the High School Musical franchise or by Disney nor the songs used in this story by various artists._

Part 2 – Katherine's POV – Can You Handle It

_I don't like the way you look at her, she looks at you  
It's frustrating  
People say when we're together it looks more like you two are dating_

_More than you and me_

_I tell you some things you do that make me feel uncomfortable  
You tell me I'm trippin and that I should let it go  
Though, I wonder to myself would you still think it's all good if the shoe was on the other foot  
I don't think you would, no_

People say that I'm lucky. They say I'm lucky because of the natural beauty I was born with. I also hear that I'm lucky to have a family who is as rich as mine. People cite that I'm lucky to be as athletic and graceful as I am. Thing is, I've worked hard just as many other people have to get what they want. Not everything is handed to me, Katherine Anderson, on a silver platter, as much as I wish it would be. I worked my ass off to be the captain of the Varsity Cheerleading Squad this year, my senior year at East High. Yeah, all right, maybe the fact that my daddy bought all new uniforms for the team this past summer helped there but if I wasn't good enough, that still wouldn't have been enough to get me to where I am today with the team.

I used to think I was lucky at least in my love life, when after shamelessly flirting with Troy Bolton, the hotter and stronger Co-Captain of this year's Varsity Basketball team, he asked me out. From there, we fast tracked it from just dating to being in a relationship and I became the girl everyone envied and wanted to be, even more so. After all, what was hotter than two good looking people being together to reign over the school?

That was before I realized that with Troy came one slight glitch, his childhood best friend Gabriella Montez. At first, I didn't think much of her. She dresses in shorts or jeans all the time with t-shirts that are too big for her. Even if they are sometimes baby-t's, the girl doesn't know the definition of form fitting clothes to save her life. True she isn't wearing all baggy clothes or anything, but they aren't anything that had a remote sense of femininity to it. At least her girlfriends occasionally wear a skirt or a dress to school, especially Sharpay Evans, the only girl at school who I recognize as being richer than me.

For the first few weeks of dating and being exclusive with Troy, Gabriella didn't even make it onto my radar of awareness because she didn't dress well and was around but didn't seem like a threat. Then when Troy and I began hanging out more with his little group of friends more so, I began to see things that I didn't like and pretty much had it out with him about his behavior concerning Gabriella, especially when my own friends started telling me that they thought Troy was cheating on me with that little nobody.

_"Kat, come on baby, what's wrong?" Troy wrapped his arms around my waist and dragged me backwards until I was sitting on his lap, on a couch in the living room of my house. "You're pouting is sexy and all but I know something is clearly bothering you."_

_All right, if he wants to know, I'll tell him. I've never been known to be beat around the bush, ever. "I don't like how you flirt with other girls right in front of me."_

_"Flirt with other girls? What other girls Kat?"_

_I saw the confused look on his face and scoffed, shaking my head as I untangled myself from him. "Really? You don't know what the hell I'm talking about? Who I'm talking about? Who else could you be so close to that my friends think you're cheating on me with? There better not be more than one fucking girl Troy Bolton!"_

_Seeing Troy blink a few times while he actually had to think about who I could possibly mean made me queasy. What if there was more than one girl he was that friendly and flirty with?_

_"Gabriella? You're getting this worked up over Ella? Babe, don't be ridiculous, she's just my best friend, well one of the two of my best friends."_

_"Shouldn't I be the third?" I demanded, now glaring at him from the other end of the couch where I had moved so I could turn and face him without being too close. "And don't tell me I'm being ridiculous! I've seen countless times the way you flirt, the way you drape your arm around her. It's ridiculous for just two so called best friends to be like that!"_

_Troy at least had the decency to sit there as he tried to think about all that I said only to come back at me with another denial. "That's just, Ella and I have always been that close. She's like a sister to me Kat. Seriously, there's nothing going on there, honest. If there was, why would I be with you and not her?"_

_"I don't know, why are you with me and not her?" I countered, part of me needing to hear his answer while another was just pissed off that he was acting so nonchalant about all this._

_That part of me that was already mad only got more mad as I watched Troy roll his eyes at me. "Katherine, please, you're not being fair here."_

_"I'm not being fair?" I heard myself echo. "Troy, do you know what it's like watching you be all chummy with your little best friend? She is clearly into you or she wouldn't look at you so adoringly. You look back at her in that same way!"_

_"Okay, now I know you're crazy. This is irrational Kat! I've grown up with Ella and I like her a lot as my best friend but that's it."_

_Oh, so now I'm irrational huh? "Okay fine. What if I had my own best friend who happened to be a guy. Would you be okay with me hanging onto him like she hangs onto you? I don't think you would."_

_I watched as Troy ran a frustrated hand over his face before his eyes opened again, a dullish blue tint looking back at me. He opened his mouth and closed it again, clearly trying to figure out how to respond while I felt a smirk growing on my face. Of course he doesn't know what to say. That's exactly my point, it's not natural!_

_To my surprise though, Troy said something I didn't expect. "I trust you Katherine, and if you had a best guy friend like I have a best girl friend, I'd trust you not to be doing anything else with him than just being his best friend. Nothing is going on with me and Gabriella, I swear it. Don't you trust me?"_

_And there it was, the trickiest question ever to be asked during a fight with someone you're in a relationship was. If you say yes, you agree to being the paranoid one, the one in the wrong. If you say no, well, what are you doing in that relationship then? He had me in a corner, whether he knew it or not._

_"Fine, let's just forget about it," I suggested, avoiding the question all together._

That really had been that, the last conversation where I ever brought Gabriella up to him. But tonight, tonight I can feel that there is going to be another round tonight when he takes me home. Why? Because I'm staring at my boyfriend as he has his arms wrapped around _her_. Yup, there's no mistaking it this time. My boyfriend is clearly flirting with his best friend right in front of me.

Honestly, since that talk a little while ago, I have tried not to act like a mega bitch about his so called friendship with the girl but this was beginning to be too much. He didn't change a God damned thing about how he treats her and it is still driving me insane, case in point right now.

"Are you cold Ella?" I hear him ask her, hearing her reply "No."

I narrow my eyes as I see the blush creep onto her cheekbones, clearly an indication that it wasn't the night air that had just made her visibly shiver. That little minx is so out to get my man! He's mine!

But, being that we are here with Troy's precious little friends without a single one of my own around, I grit my teeth and bear it, straining to hear the soft words Troy spoke into her ear. My eyes never leave them, watching the way that the corners of Gabriella's lips pull upwards while she seems to be listening and the way Troy looks at her so softly, with that adoring look on his face again. Am I really the only one here that sees what they are doing, what's happening between them right now? I can practically feel the heat they are producing!

When I see the bitch's eyes close after they putted that stupid golf ball together, I feel my anger and jealousy rise to another level, itching to tear the two of them apart but knowing I can't act on that impulse. Instead, I clamp my mouth shut as I watch her open her eyes in surprise when, of course, the golf ball makes it into the hole in one shot. What else would one expect to happen when Troy practically putts for the girl?

Once again, I roll my eyes as he lets out a victory yell. "Yes! I knew I could help you get a hole in one! Who is the master? Huh? Who is the master?" Yeah Troy, you're the master. A master idiot for doing this again to me!

When Gabriella turns to face Troy though, I can't stop my feet from moving in their direction, not like I really want to at this point. I'm sick of this, completely. Gabriella Montez, Miss Sweet and Innocent, clearly has the hots for my boyfriend and I will not tolerate it for another damn minute! This time for sure, when I talk to _my_ boyfriend tonight, he is going to open his damn eyes and see that I'm not being irrational or delusional or anything like that!

I hear her finally speak again. "Is that all that was? Just another thing to do to prove that you are the resident golf pro?" What? You thought Troy was going to confess his undying love for you just because he helped you during mini-golf? Please, you're such a little amateur.

My feet stumble though as I hear silence, seeing Troy rub the back of his neck, a sign I already know is a tell tale sign that he's nervous or is about to lie. I see that look that passes between them, seeing the chemistry, and find myself that much more angry now. "It's an accomplishment, on both of our parts," he finally says. Yeah, total bullshit.

In order to make Gabriella believe that everything was fine between me and Troy, to make her understand she doesn't have a chance in hell of stealing Troy away from me, I put on my best smile before I wrap my arms around his waist, peering over his shoulder with a victory smirk on my face before I nuzzle his neck. I make sure to make a big show of kissing his neck, grinning for real when Troy turns around to face me, now giving me that look of us that he usually reserves for when we're in private, the type of look that tells me he's still attracted to me.

"Good job baby. You were wonderful!" I exclaim with false excitement in my voice, making sure I maintain eye contact with him.

I feel the way his arm slips around my own body while his other hand pushes back some of my hair to rest behind my shoulder, doubling back to run his fingers through my hair, sending shivers through my body despite my earlier anger and annoyance with him. "Thanks babe."

Staring into his brilliantly clear blue eyes, I almost forget all about how I felt just minutes before, getting the sense that he was there for only me. Maybe that's part of the Bolton charm, making any one person feel like they are the most important of everyone else with just one look.

Without much effort, I lean towards him as he does the same to me, both of us sighing with contentment as our lips touch, caressing each other's. Easily I forget all about where we are, who is watching, well almost everyone with the exception of one brunette who I am more than sure is green with envy right now, as I slip my tongue into his mouth, exploring the terrain that I already knew so well.

"Dude, get a room!" Chad calls out, annoying me once again as this makes Troy pull away to give him a glare.

"Shut up and putt!" he returns, looking back at me a moment later. "Sorry, immature best friend and all."

I wish I could speak my mind freely in that moment but just nod, knowing to choose my battles wisely.

For the rest of the night, I make sure that Troy is constantly by my side with the exception of one time where I couldn't hold it any longer and have to use the restroom.

Surprise, surprise. When I come back, I see Troy with his hands on Gabriella's arms, rubbing them up and down while they are both laughing, twisting my stomach yet again. Guess we are going to have another talk tonight after all…

_What if your friends started paying more attention to me?  
Would you handle it?  
Tell me could you handle it, boy?  
What if your friends started paying more attention to me?  
Would you handle it?  
Tell me could you handle it, boy?_

_Hey boy  
What if I told you Tony said I was pretty?  
When you're not around he goes out of his way to come and chill with me_

So a week and a half has passed and I did talk to Troy about his behavior that night at the mini-golf place while we sat in his truck outside my house. A lot of good that did. I got the whole "you're imagining things" bit again from him but there was less conviction there in his eyes and in his voice, that much I did notice. Already tired from that boring night, I let it go.

Perhaps that was a mistake on my part, perhaps I should have had it on with him then and there. Why? So I don't have to witness with my two girlfriends, who are also on the Varsity squad with me, my dearly devoted boyfriend spinning around his little best friend, hearing her giggle carry down the hall towards me. My eyes narrow as I clearly can see from here the way his arms are tightly wrapped around her waist from the back, the smile he has on his lips while Troy looks down at Gabriella, who finally is able to put her feet down on the floor of the hallway when Troy puts her down.

To Gabriella's credit, she's the one that breaks the embrace when she happens to look in my direction and spots me watching them. I see her say something to Troy before splitting the scene, leaving Troy looking down the hall at me and rubbing the back of his neck. So busted.

Hearing only some faint sympathetic words from my friends, I decide then and there that I don't want to talk to him. In fact, to save whatever relationship we have left, I cannot talk to him right now or it will be over, plain and simple. I take one last glance at him, giving him my best "you're so in deep shit" look and turn on my heel, going an alternate way to my locker that wouldn't bring me past him.

Instead, I run into Tony Fitzgerald, another member of the Varsity Basketball team, literally running into him after I part ways with my friends on my way back up the stairs to my locker after having taken the hallway downstairs to bypass Troy.

When Tony's hands quickly shoot out to steady me, lingering there on my upper arms, I feel something pass between us but dismiss it to just shock of almost getting knocked down to the ground.

"Hey Kat, sorry about that. Guess I was in a rush to go down the stairs while you were coming up. That would have been really terrible for us both if we tumbled down the stairs, especially for me cause you probably would have messed up that pretty face of yours…" I stand there and watch the way his animated face continues to change as he rambles on and on. "…You really are pretty Katherine. Troy is a lucky guy."

Tell me something I don't know. Seems like the only person that doesn't realize how lucky he is is Troy himself. "Thanks Tony." I can say a lot more but choose not to. "Umm, you can let go now."

"Oh, sorry," he apologizes, now giving me a bashful look as he drops his hands from my arms. Why do I strangely want to take his hands and put them back on my arms? "So, umm, where's Troy?"

"Probably boning his innocent best friend," I grumble, seeing I did a good enough job of disguising my words as Tony looks at me with a confused expression. "He's, umm, he's…"

"He's right here," Troy's familiar voice pipes up from nearby, not looking at me but at Tony. "How's it going Tony?"

I watch as they do that stupid thing guys do, fist bump, before they get involved in some discussion about basketball that I drown out by singing my favorite song of the moment in my head. Sure, as the captain of the Varsity Cheerleading Squad I should be knowledgeable enough about the sports we cheer for to know when to lead the rest of the squad but frankly, I hate sports. So why cheerleading? Because I enjoy that and of course the attention it gets me. Quite honestly, I get enough of basketball and football especially from just being at the games. Having to listen to Troy and Tony and all the others ramble on about it is quite a bore.

Before I know it, Tony is leaving and that leaves me and Troy standing there in the stairwell together, the occasional East High student scurrying by or around us to get to where they want to go before they all head home for the day.

After sharing a stare with Troy and seeing that he wasn't going to be the first to speak, I turn on my heel and walk towards my locker, holding my head up high. Before the stairwell door closes behind me, I hear it open again and know that Troy is now following me as I walk to my locker. I smile a little as I think of this and what it means.

I take my time putting in my locker combination, enjoying the feeling of making Troy hover there, waiting for me as I now open the locker door and start getting everything I need for the night of homework out while putting back in what I don't from my last few periods. While I was acting like I was solely focusing on my books and notebooks, I keep tabs of Troy and see him first rub the back of his neck and then shuffle his feet. Yup, I'm still pissed at his behavior but there's something about making him suffer then that makes me that much happier at the moment.

When I'm done, and only then, I zip up my bag and slide it onto my shoulder, closing the door to look at Troy. "Oh, hi Troy. I didn't realize you were there."

"Oh, really?" he answers, cocking up one of his eyebrows while he seems to be casually leaning against the locker two down from mine. "I think you did, just like how you saw me at Gabriella's just a little bit earlier but then disappeared to what it appears avoid me. What's going on Kat?"

Really? Did he just ask me that? Why I ought to… No, get control Katherine. Maybe if you try to press your point now, for a third time, Troy will finally hear you. "Oh, don't mind me Troy. I'm just busy imagining ways of how you and your best friend could be flirting and having a blast in the very halls I walk through too. It just must be my mind being so completely bored in classes that I just keep dreaming up ways for you to be picking her up and spinning around for now good reason. Wow, I really am so delusional, aren't I?"

Within a half of a second, Troy's face changes before my eyes. Gone is the look of concern. No, now I'm looking at a guy who seems to be ready for battle after a fleeting look that I caught before it changed into his current resolve, a look of guilt. "Katherine, I thought we have discussed this already. It's been going so good between us babe that I honestly thought we were over all this bullshit."

"Then why is the bullshit still occurring Troy, huh? I'm sick and tired of hearing you tell me I'm a head case when every time I turn a corner here at school, cause God knows I will not hang out with your stupid friends again if she's there, you're there with her! Do you know what that does to me? How that paints me to look like? A fool!"

"Come on Kat, don't be like this. No one is calling you a fool," he starts before I shut him down.

"No, of course they don't. They all think I'm lucky to be dating you. Well guess what? You're damn lucky to be dating me! Newsflash, I'm not some innocent and shy girl like that mouse of a best friend you have. Other guys are interested in me, Tony included, and I could have any one of them! Am I with them though? No! Why? Because I seem to only want you!" A nagging feeling tugs on the back of my mind as these words escape my mouth but I put them in a box and lock them away.

"Well what the fuck do you want me to do? I keep telling you the truth, there is nothing going on between me and Gabriella! Next thing I know, you'll get some fucking crazy idea of having me cut her out of my life to prove that I'm serious about you. Straight out of some chick flick movie!"

I am about the respond to that, to deny it, when I stop and realize that his "crazy idea" he just mentioned has merit to it, quite a bit. "Actually, that's exactly what I want Troy."

"What? No, absolutely no way Katherine! Gabriella is my best friend!" he argues, straightening his body so he is now standing in front of me, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Then you're telling me there is something going on between you two then? Glad to hear you finally admit it!" I throw out, knowing that I was not being even half fair with him but wanting to see how far I could push this. In some ways, I could sense that I was closer to getting what I want from him than I had been before.

Slowly, Troy unclenched his jaw, his eyes becoming a dark gray as they stared into my eyes. "For the last time, there is nothing going on between me and Gabriella… now or before. You don't know what you're asking me to do Katherine."

"Oh, but I do Troy," I reply, giving him a smile. "We've been together for a few months now and I know exactly what Gabriella means to you and how she feels about you and you her, that is if what you're saying to me is the truth. She's just a friend and I'm your girlfriend, the girl you asked to Homecoming, the girl who you love steaming up the windows of your truck with. Choose Troy, Gabriella or me."

Using all the will I have, I keep up a strong front as he surveys me, trying to figure out if I was actually serious, which I was absolutely serious about, or if I was playing like he was hoping. "Please Kat, don't do this." I hear his plea, I see his face soften again, but I stay strong.

"Choose Troy because I don't have it in me to keep watching the guy I really like, that I have committed myself to, play me like a violin, so smoothly, while he woos another girl."

Immediately after I say my piece, my vision gets blurry and I realize for the first time how much this actually hurts. There's nothing lucky about having this discussion with my boyfriend, no matter what sparks I just shared with Tony, no matter how detached I've believed myself to be. Standing here in front of Troy and seeing that indecision on his face pains me more than a broken nail, more than the bruising I've gotten from falls during practice.

The longer Troy stands there, silent, my demand between us, the more the pain grows despite me blinking away the tears. At some point, I can recall Troy stepping forward to touch my face but I automatically move back, staying out of his grasp.

"Katherine…"

"Choose God damn it Troy, choose!" I order, hating the shake in my voice.

After some contemplation, Troy finally opens his mouth but not to say what I desperately want him to say. "I can't, I'm sorry."

With that, I leave him behind me as I walk down the hall, too frustrated with myself to have lost that much control in front of him to say anything to him. I decide then and there that I would rather Troy believe me to be a mega bitch than to ever see me that vulnerable ever again.

_La la la la la la  
La la la la la la  
La la  
What if I do what you do, baby?  
La la la la la la  
La la la la la la  
La la  
What if it had been to you baby?_

After I change and give my squad a warm congratulations on another excellent performance for the Varsity Basketball team, I talk briefly to our coach before heading out, my bag firmly on my shoulder. As I walk to my car, I'm spy a male figure leaning against it, dressed in red and white East High warm-ups. When I get closer, I find myself not all that surprised to see that it's Tony with a smile on his face that I find myself returning.

It's been another week and a half or so that has passed since I gave Troy that ultimatum and he may have not verbally told me his choice but I could tell at the end of last week that it wasn't me. Then again, I haven't seen him around with Gabriella either, at least at school.

Instead, I allowed myself to be accompanied places like to the movies by Tony, who has been all too eager to replace Troy. In fact, I realize as I greet him with a hug that in my mind, Tony really has replaced Troy. Maybe it is too early to say considering how long it took me to get Troy and me to where we are, well where we used to be, but this feels different already from what Troy and I share.

"You looked hot out there tonight, just as usual. Your hot little ass almost made me miss a pass Chad shot to me," Tony teases me, smirking as I roll my eyes at him. "Now I know why Coach warns us that we need to stay focused on the court only. If I allowed myself to watch you all night long, I'd never make a productive shot."

Have I mentioned what a great flirt Tony is? "Oh stop, you're just being silly. I know you don't mean that."

"Don't I? Then why the hell have I been wanting to taste your lips for the past year?"

His questions freeze me as I stare back at him, realizing for the first time that he really did mean everything he has been saying to me. Tony has been sincere in his interest in me while I thought he was flirting all this time, flirting to the point of not really meaning anything about it while my own feelings about him continued to grow while I wasn't really paying attention.

Eyeing him for a few moments, seeing the way he intently stared back at me, I give him my best seductive smile. "Then why don't you finally taste them?"

Another invitation apparently doesn't have to be made as Tony grabs my hips and roughly pulls my body against his before gently kissing my lips, the contrast driving me crazy, in a good way. I let him tentatively explore before I wrap my arms around his neck, taking control as I deepen the kiss, hearing his chuckle at my aggressiveness.

"Wow, you really weren't lying when you said Tony was interested."

I pull away from Tony just enough to see Troy standing not five feet away, standing there with his arms crossed and a triumphant look on his face, not quite the expression I thought I would see just moments before when I first heard his voice.

Swallowing, I gather my wits about me before turning to face him, stepping away from Tony, giving him an apologetic look before focusing back on Troy. "I told you there were other guys Troy. Other guys that are just as good looking as you and as talented."

Troy lets out a sarcastic laugh as he shakes his head at me. "You know what's really pathetic? That I was trying so hard to please you, to make things right between you and me, that I honestly contemplated giving up my best friend for you a week and some odd ago. Thing is, every time I thought of cutting her out of my life, it felt like I was cutting out the fresh oxygen I need to breathe. I was trying so fucking hard to find a way to make us work Katherine when really, I just needed to see that you already moved on. You could have at least told me Katherine."

"I did, I warned you! It's not fun being on the receiving end of seeing your girlfriend flirt with a friend is it? I told you that it felt like shit!" I exclaim, thinking of our countless arguments over Gabriella, the heated arguments now suddenly seeming like a distant memory.

Troy shakes his head though at me, making me wonder what he is feeling. "No, it doesn't feel like shit because what I just saw wasn't a girlfriend flirting with a friend or even a best friend. It was an ex-girlfriend making out with her new victim. Get over yourself Kat, there's a big difference between what you just did, what maybe you've been doing all along with Tony, and my relationship with my best friend, Gabriella."

"You've always loved Gabriella though Troy, admit it! We may be over but don't do me this disservice. Admit it!" I can't help but demand the truth from him one last time. Sure, it stings to see everything between Troy and me unravel so but I strangely find it a relief to see it over, even better knowing that I have Tony, who clearly is genuinely interested in me without a pesky little best girl friend around.

The words I throw at Troy seem to stun him as he stands there, blinking a few times before a smile actually appears on his face. "Maybe I have Katherine, maybe you've been right. Thing is, I was so into you that I pushed aside all those inklings. If it wasn't for your constant badgering me about it, things would have been different. I probably never would have stopped to really examine how I see Gabriella. Thanks Kat. Have a good night you two!"

I can't help but watch as Troy smirks at me before striding away into the darkness, towards where his truck is probably parked in its usual spot. I continue to stare even after he is long gone, blinking only when I feel a hand on my waist and see Tony step up so he is next to me.

"Katherine, are you okay? Shit, I'm sorry, I thought you and Troy were over Kat," Tony starts, stopping when I shake my head at him.

"We may be officially over now Tony, but we were over a few weeks ago unofficially, even if he didn't realize it. Gabriella, as much as I hate to admit it, has always owned his heart, whether Troy Bolton is aware of it or not." Sighing, I meet his eyes and see the concern there, the remorse. "I'm all right, really."

Tony studies me for a few moments then nods his head. "All right, fair enough. Why don't we go to Starbucks and I buy you that white chocolate mocha with extra whip and two packets of Splenda you like? My treat."

A smile spreads across my face as I realize there, in the darkness, that in so little time, Tony has already learned my favorite drink, something Troy never got right. Yup, Tony really did seamlessly replace Troy and I couldn't be happier about it.

_What if your friends started paying more attention to me?  
Would you handle it?  
Tell me could you handle it, boy?  
What if your friends started paying more attention to me?  
Would you handle it?  
Tell me could you handle it, boy?_


	3. Crush

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places created by the High School Musical franchise or by Disney nor the songs used in this story by various artists._

Part 3 – Troy's POV – Crush

_I hung up the phone tonight,  
Something happened for the first time,  
Deep inside it was a rush, what a rush  
Cause the possibility,  
That you would ever feel the same away about me,  
It's just too much, just too much  
Why do I keep running from the truth,  
All I ever think about is you  
You got me hypnotized, so mesmerized,  
And I just got to know_

The smell of nail polish fills my nostrils as I walk back into the living room at my girlfriend's house, or should I say mansion. Since Katherine Anderson, my girlfriend, was thirsty about ten minutes ago, I had offered to go back to the kitchen to get her some water only to have her tell me she wanted a Diet Coke with a splash of grenadine and a cherry with a lime slice that was exactly a fifth of the lime. Wanting to keep her happy, especially after our fight the other night, I walked to the gigantic kitchen and searched through the three refrigerators to find what I needed, wishing then that one of her servants had come to my rescue but not a one had shown up. Typical of my luck, I swear.

Anyway, when I am finally done getting her drink just right, I put away everything like the unused parts of the lime and the grenadine bottle before making my way back to the living room to find Katherine now busy having her nails painted by a servant. I find myself rolling my eyes at this but silently put her drink down next to her and see her give me just a glance before criticizing the way the woman was painting her toes.

"Maya, I told you only on the nail! My skin does not need a fine coat of ruby red on them!"

"Yes miss, I'm sorry," I hear the woman reply, causing me to sigh quietly.

It was times like these when I find myself wondering how I ever ended up going out with a girl like Katherine, remembering only how flattered I was that one of the sexiest girls in our class took interest in me near the start of senior year. Honestly, I never knew that she knew I existed until Katherine was suddenly everywhere I went at school, there to flirt and giggle and make me feel special with all her attention.

Chad Danforth, one of two of my childhood best friends, loves telling me what a trap Katherine has set for me but I disagree. Despite her diva behavior, like now, Katherine is actually great. Maybe she's not as sweet and as intellectual as I always thought my dream girl would be, but she definitely knows how to have a good time and makes me feel like I'm the King of the World… most times.

"Troy, dear, would you be a dear and get me another lime?" Katherine requests of me, giving me that sexy smile of hers that she has already figured out could get me to do just about anything.

I nod my head and get up from the couch I had settled into, walking back to the kitchen to slice another fifth of a lime for her and put it on a napkin before returning the lime to the fridge and walking back, feeling much like a servant instead of Katherine's boyfriend. By the time I'm back, the servant is finishing up and is gone within five more minutes while Katherine is busy drinking her Diet Coke.

Unable to resist, I ask, "Do your servants always do your nails?"

Katherine gives me a look that clearly says that they do. "Unless I get them done at a salon, my servants always paint my nails. What other way is there to do it?"

"Umm, I don't know…" I reply, not really wanting to get into a discussion about this right now with her, already feeling like we had met our argument quota the other night over something that was so out there to fight about.

"Exactly why this is a girly thing that most guys unless they are gay or metro don't need to bother themselves with. I bet you wouldn't even know the right end of a nail buffer to use!"

I plaster a smile on my face as Katherine continues to chatter on, thinking of the last time I saw a girl add some color to her nails, that girl being my other childhood best friend, Gabriella Montez.

_"Ella, what exactly are you doing with those markers?" I asked as I put down the sports magazine I was reading to look at Gabriella who was sitting next to me, her back against the headboard and her legs drawn up so her thighs were pressed against her front. It was a Tuesday night and, as she always is, Gabriella is over to spend a few hours with me while we have our exclusive Ella and Troy time._

_She glanced over at me and gave me an impish smile. "I'm coloring my nails. What does it look like I'm doing?"_

_"I am no expert but isn't it usually called painting your nails?"_

_"It is if you are using nail polish but as you observed, Mr. Einstein, I am using markers and not nail polish," she breezily replied, giving me another smile as she waved the markers in front of my face. "Now, since you've so inconsiderately interrupted my concentration, what color should they be?"_

_"Your toes?" I heard myself ask. Is she really using just markers on her toes to color them?_

_Gabriella rolled her eyes at me. "Duh! Silly boy! What else would I be coloring, my actual feet?"_

_I smirked at this. "Well, with you Ella, I just never know."_

_She pushed just enough against my upper arm to shove me over to the right a little before I righted myself. "Enough chatter from you smart aleck. Colors?"_

_"Are you just putting the marker straight onto your nails?" I questioned, too confused as to how this actually worked to pick a color just yet._

_Gabriella sighed, reaching over to the nightstand on her side to pick up a nail polish bottle. "First, I put on a clear coat to make sure I don't permanently stain my nails and I let that dry, which I already have. Next, I color them solid colors or make designs then wait about ten minutes for them to dry. Last step is putting a clear coat on top of the coloring to make sure nothing rubs off. Done with the Inquisition?"_

_"Hey, I just am curious! It's not like I do any of this!" I protested. "What about red and white to support me and the start of basketball season?"_

_"Slight problem. No white marker," Gabriella pointed out, giving me a sarcastic look that I've only seen her pull off so well, making me nervously rub the back of my neck._

_"Oh yeah, duh…"_

_Gabriella giggled, making me grin again. "Don't worry, with all the colors they have available, I think I have seen several white markers. The classic pack though that I have here, non-toxic of course, doesn't have white. It has brown, violet, gray, red, orange, yellow, black, green, pink, and blue."_

_She always knows how to make me feel better and not quite as stupid as I should feel. Another reason to add to the list of why she's my best friend._

_Apparently, I ended up taking too long in trying to choose a color because Gabriella gets a mischievous twinkle in her mocha eyes before she sprung her color choices on me. "I know! Blue and yellow!"_

_I was about to agree when it clicked in my head why she looked so impish again while she suggested it to me. "Hell no! I will disown your sorry ass if you even think to show up at a game of mine let alone school with West High colors! No fucking way Ella!"_

_"Oh, but I was so hoping I'd catch that dreamy captain's attention on the Knight's Varsity Basketball team," she replied, placing the back of her left hand against her forehead. "Why, I think I shall faint the next time I'm near him! He's so dreamy!"_

_"Go shove it Gabriella!" Okay, so that wasn't the ideal response my mother would want me to say to a girl but this was Gabriella we're talking about. When we were little, I think I stopped even really conceptualizing Gabriella as a girl, one of them, the hard to understand creatures boys often crushed on, even when we both hit puberty. "Fine, I'll pick and I'll color your nails to make sure they don't turn out blue and yellow!"_

_An eyebrow arched up as she looked at me in disbelief. "You, Troy Bolton, my Wildcat, are going to color my nails for me? What is the world coming to? Are you up to the task?"_

_"Oh give me a break, it's just coloring. I am not making any cutesy little patterns for you though," I warned her, picking up a red and yellow marker, the closest I could get to East High colors as yellow was an official color that was sometimes used in the halls and on uniforms._

_When I shifted on the bed and moved over so I was now facing her, I tried to take one of her feet in my hands only to have her pull it back. "What? Give me your foot Gabriella."_

_She bit her lip, a look on her face as she eyed me a bit warily. "Troy, I've never had anyone else do my nails except for that one time Sharpay made me go with her and Taylor to the spa. Touching my feet is a bit personal don't you think? I can do it, really."_

_"Forget it, I'm doing it. It's just me Gabriella, the same guy who saw you running around in just an undershirt and your Superwoman underwear when you were seven," I replied, chuckling as I saw her blush._

_After sighing, Gabriella extended her legs out as she let me place her left foot in my lap. "I was five by the way, maybe six but definitely not seven. At least I don't wear my favorite super hero on my underwear anymore unlike someone."_

_"Touché Ella, touché!" Of course Gabriella was referring to my boxers she had seen me in the countless times she was over in the summer and it was just too hot to wear anything else but my shorts that I liked low on my hips and my boxers that were visible above that. So what if some of them had Spiderman and Superman on them?_

_True to her word, after I was done, we sat there and talked for about ten to fifteen minutes before Gabriella grabbed the clear nail polish bottle again only to give me a startled look when I took it from her. "Let me finish my artwork!"_

_"All right, whatever you say Wildcat," Gabriella replied, handing me the bottle and sitting back to let me finish the job, smiling back at her once I was done._

That was quite a bit different than what I experienced today but I guess every girl has different methods and preferences than the other, right? I guiltily look at Katherine and feel relief when she isn't looking at me, knowing in part of my mind that she would have a hard time reading my mind anyway. Problem is, that same down to earth girl of my memory, the low-maintenance girl who was content coloring her nails with a marker, was the reason why Kat and I fought the other night.

Why? Why the fight considering that Gabriella is just that, my best friend? Katherine has it in her mind that I'm crushing on my best friend. How ridiculous is that? Gabriella is one of the best people I know but I don't like her like that, no way, at least that's the way I always thought when some other random person would suggest that Gabriella and I make a beautiful couple. How can you say that to someone who has practically grown up with said girl like a brother to a sister would?

For the rest of the afternoon, Katherine and I cuddle on the couch and watch a movie before I force myself back up off the couch, this time to head home to be there in time for dinner. Instead of walking me to do the door, citing she was tired, Katherine pulls me down to give me a deep, lingering kiss before letting me go, giving me again that sexy smile of hers.

"Bye Troy," she sexily purrs, making me grin as I bid her farewell and see myself out.

Once settled into my truck, I wait until I am on the main road to call up Gabriella, who answers on the second ring, wanting to check up on her as I always do in the early evenings. "Whatcha doing Ella?"

"Oh, just coloring my nails," Gabriella replies, making me chuckle, which she hears. "What's so funny Wildcat?"

"I was just thinking of the time I colored your nails is all. You better not be coloring them blue and yellow or I'm going to turn this truck in the direction of your house straight away to fix that right away!" I exclaim, grinning as I hear her adorable giggle that is uniquely her.

"Promise, no blue and yellow combinations for me," Gabriella swears. "I could never hurt you like that Troy."

My grin widens as I know this is the truth. Gabriella has such a gentle soul that she could never really do anyone else any serious harm, yet another thing I loved about her. I freeze, thankful I'm at a stoplight, as I catch myself and my wording, albeit wording that remained only in my head. Did I really just say that it was another thing that I _loved_ about her? A word so big that I would never dream of using it when I think about Katherine and especially when I talk to her? No way, it's just all the accusations Katherine threw at me the other night that has me thinking this way. Of course I don't love Gabriella…

"Wildcat? Troy? Are you still there?" I hear Gabriella ask, worry in her voice. "Troy?"

Shaking myself, I focus back on the present. "Sorry Ella, just spaced. I'm actually driving so I probably should focus on the road. Wouldn't want to get my rusty old car banged up."

"Be nice to that car. You and your dad worked on it and I know you love it despite your swearing at it every so often when you need to fix something. I'll talk to you later tonight?"

"Yup, bye!" I quickly hang up the phone and lean my head on the steering wheel after I toss the cell phone onto the bench next to me.

Did I really use the word _love_ in terms of Gabriella? Impossible…

_Do you ever think, when you're all alone,  
All that we can be, where this thing can go  
Am I crazy or falling in love,  
Is it real or just another crush  
Do you catch a breath, when I look at you,  
Are you holding back, like the way I do  
Cause I'm tryin', tryin' to walk away  
But I know this crush aint' goin' away, goin' away_

So I've come to the conclusion that girls exist only to make you insane. Yup, that's the only logical reason why I've been reduced to feeling like the scum of the earth at the moment. All the fights with Katherine over the fact that my girlfriend is convinced I have a thing for my best friend has caused so much tension between us that it is no longer fun to be with her.

Even worse, all the arguing with Katherine has really got me thinking… What if she's right? Could she be right? Sure Gabriella is smart and genuine, funny and sweet, not to mention a great listener. That all makes her a great best friend though and nothing else, right? Never before have I ever had to sit back and question what I think and feel about Gabriella and now that Katherine has made me sit in a corner practically to try to work this all out, I can't help but wonder if Katherine is right, if I have a crush on Gabriella… or even more.

Then again, there's nothing like a fiery ultimatum to make a person really sit there and think about everything and everyone in his life. Yup, Katherine, slapped me with one the other day just moments after I caught her being flirty with Tony Fitzgerald.

_After Gabriella quickly left me after spying Katherine down the hall, the laughter that was bubbling from me disappeared as I nervously rubbed the back of my neck. I could tell that Katherine was livid, especially with our arguments lately, but what did she expect? Gabriella has been in my life for far longer than Katherine has been and my habits with Gabriella just don't die that easily or quickly, no matter how angry Katherine gets._

_What I hadn't expected though was when Katherine disappeared to clearly avoid me to run into her as she flirted with another guy on the team, catching them just as I heard Tony murmur, "…You really are pretty Katherine. Troy is a lucky guy."_

_Yeah, my girlfriend is pretty, sexy more like it. I stood off to the side as I continued to observe the way Tony was holding Katherine and listened to their exchange. "Thanks Tony. Umm, you can let go now."_

_Strangely, as much as I hate the image of Tony holding onto Katherine's upper arms like that, I'm not burning with jealousy, as movies and tv shows depict a boyfriend should behave. Maybe it's all the accusations Katherine has thrown at me lately that make me more level headed, grounded, as I hear him back off._

_"Oh, sorry!" he apologized, putting a genuine apologetic look on his face. That's bullshit right there because Tony is so not the type to be soft for any girl. He's the biggest player there is on the East High court and I'm not talking about basketball. "So, umm, where's Troy?"_

_I paused as I waited to hear what snappy comment Katherine would come up with, missing what she said first. The second part of what she said though was clear as she stumbled, "He's, umm, he's…"_

_"He's right here," I volunteered, tired of the little scene already. "How's it going Tony?"_

_Tony and I bumped fists, an acceptable greeting between any pair of guys, and I began chatting him up about basketball, knowing that it would give Katherine the best idea that I didn't care that she was trying to make me jealous or whatever else she was trying to do. I saw Katherine get bored rather quickly and wrap it up, having little interest in wasting my breath on Tony when I really just wanted to talk to Katherine._

_Soon enough, Tony left and I'm left with Katherine in the stairwell, groups of East High students moving around us. We stared at each other, the silence between us heavy, both seemingly waiting for the other to break down first. Before I knew it, Katherine turned around and left to march through the door next to us and sulked all the way down the halls to her locker._

_True, she held her head up high but I knew Katherine well enough to see through her theatrics. I wanted to talk to her but it's going to be on my terms and she's going to talk first. While she busied herself at her locker, I stood there on the other side of the door, rubbing the back of my neck and shuffling my feet out of boredom._

_Luckily, before I died of boredom, Katherine finished and turned to look at me for the first time after she closed her locker door. "Oh, hi Troy. I didn't realize you were there."_

_"Oh, really?" I asked, as one of my eyebrows rose and I surveyed her from my current position of leaning against some random locker. "I think you did, just like how you saw me at Gabriella's just a little bit earlier but then disappeared to what it appears avoid me. What's going on Kat?"_

_Yup, I really did ask that. Why? Because I wanted her to understand what the hell it feels like always being on the defensive, to be the one answering questions. "Oh, don't mind me Troy. I'm just busy imagining ways of how you and your best friend could be flirting and having a blast in the very halls I walk through too. It just must be my mind being so completely bored in classes that I just keep dreaming up ways for you to be picking her up and spinning around for now good reason. Wow, I really am so delusional aren't I?"_

_My mind froze. As prepared as I was for this new battle, hearing Katherine's take on what she saw with me and Gabriella not more than twenty minutes ago painted a picture of a happy couple in my head, one that consisted of me and my best friend. Shit. Now was so not the time. Instead, I turned the tables on her, steeling myself for another fiery exchange. "Katherine, I thought we have discussed this already. It's been going so good between us babe that I honestly thought we were over all this bullshit."_

_Denial… The best thing I thought of there on the spot to hide the truth from the both of us. God, what am I doing?_

_"Then why is the bullshit still occurring Troy, huh? I'm sick and tired of hearing you tell me I'm a head case when every time I turn a corner here at school, cause God knows I will not hang out with your stupid friends again if she's there, you're there with her! Do you know what that does to me? How that paints me to look like? A fool!"_

_"Come on Kat, don't be like this. No one is calling you a fool," I answered, not really wanting to hurt Katherine despite the attitude she was giving me. After all, I still am attracted to her and liked her. I just, I had to wonder if I ever could love her._

_"No, of course they don't. They all think I'm lucky to be dating you. Well guess what? You're damn lucky to be dating me! Newsflash, I'm not some innocent and shy girl like that mouse of a best friend you have. Other guys are interested in me, Tony included, and I could have any one of them! Am I with them though? No! Why? Because I seem to only want you!"_

_"Well what the fuck do you want me to do? I keep telling you the truth, there is nothing going on between me and Gabriella! Next thing I know you'll get some fucking crazy idea of having me cut her out of my life to prove that I'm serious about you. Straight out of some chick flick movie!" As soon as the words left my mouth I knew it was a mistake._

_ "Actually, that's exactly what I want Troy."_

_Fuck, this girl was crazy all right. I just told her that it was an insane idea! "What? No, absolutely no way Katherine! Gabriella is my best friend!"_

_"Then you're telling me there is something going on between you two then? Glad to hear you finally admit it!"_

_No, I didn't say that… aloud. Fine, maybe I have been thinking of Gabriella a little differently ever since Katherine has forced me to look at Gabriella being in my life. Maybe I was caught off guard the other night during mini-golf when I was helping Gabriella with her putt, when I felt the electricity run between us, shocking me in the end. I've never experienced anything quite like it and I hadn't a clue what caused it other than the thought I had earlier in the night of how much she really had matured looks wise since we were little and how naturally beautiful she was. "For the last time, there is nothing going on between me and Gabriella… now or before. You don't know what you're asking me to do Katherine."_

_"Oh, but I do Troy." Holy crap, the nut smiled at me. "We've been together for a few months now and I know exactly what Gabriella means to you and how she feels about you and you her, that is if what you're saying to me is the truth. She's just a friend and I'm your girlfriend, the girl you asked to Homecoming, the girl who you love steaming up the windows of your truck with. Choose Troy, Gabriella or me."_

_Was she really serious? This so can't end well, no matter what I do. It would have been easier if I really didn't care at all for Katherine but I did. As much of a nag she had been lately, I still liked her in that way, like a crush. "Please Kat, don't do this."_

_"Choose Troy, because I don't have it in me to keep watching the guy I really like, that I have committed myself to, play me like a violin, so smoothly, while he woos another girl."_

_As if I didn't feel bad enough, I saw tears, actual tears from Katherine and knew that I was the one that had put them there. All right, now I did feel bad, horribly bad. How did all this happen? What did we do to get to this crazy ultimatum from the flirty, fun couple we used to be just under a month ago? When her eyes filled with even more tears, I couldn't hold myself back and stepped forward to touch her cheek, to show her that despite our angry words, I still cared about her._

_I wasn't surprised though when she stepped away. "Katherine…"_

_"Choose, God damn it Troy, choose!" There was a foreign quality to her voice, something that betrayed the fact that Katherine wasn't the Great Ice Queen I knew kids at school thought of her as. Sharpay Evans was the only other girl at school that inspired that type of reaction._

_As Katherine continued to stand there, ranging from standing strong and faltering, all right before my very eyes, I realized I couldn't choose right there. It wouldn't be fair to any of us. "I can't, I'm sorry."_

_Within a second, I see that icy mask that often melted away for me in the past few months come up with such force that I felt in my gut that it was permanent. For that reason alone I allowed Katherine to walk away. It wasn't over between us but if I knew instinctively that if I didn't decide, and made sure that decision was in Katherine's favor, I would be single yet again in the matter of a short span of time._

Now, just a couple of days later, I sit here with Gabriella, on _our _bench in the neighborhood park, under the tree that I loved helping her climb when we were little, lost in my memories and thoughts. As hard as I've tried, I can't stop thinking about Katherine's ultimatum and what it really means for my life. She had ordered me to choose between her and someone who I never thought I'd ever part with. Hell, Gabriella and I had recently talked about applying to some of the same colleges on one of our Tuesday nights.

It wasn't fair but I am starting to see Katherine's point. There is something thrumming just under the surface between me and Gabriella. When I really started focusing on it when all this began between me and Kat, I started to slowly feel it, hear it. How long had this all been going on? Did Gabriella feel this too or is this just me being totally crazy?

Gabriella's giggle is what fishes me out of the sea of thoughts I'm in, reminding me of her wonderfully happy take on life. She's not looking at me but I have to wonder what she's laughing about. Damn, she's adorable when she giggles like that.

I snap to though when I see her catch me looking at her. "What?"

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, umm, well, I was thinking of how we got our matching scars."

Our matching scars… Oh man, I haven't thought about those in ages! The memory of little Gabriella looking so proud to have beat me to riding without help only to see her fall, followed by me crashing into and over her made me smile. It was strange to feel my mouth stretch this way after such a long time of worrying and thinking I shouldn't be smiling but our childhood memories together always make me laugh or smile at least. Those were the days…

"You mean how you gave me mine?"

I hide my chuckles as Gabriella comically drops her jaw, leaving her mouth so wide open. I'm tempted to remind her that a fly could easily be her next protein snack if she didn't close it but resist when I see her cutely deny that she gave me the scar on my knee. "I did no such thing!"

"Oh come on Ella, admit it. If you hadn't lost your balance first and then crashed right in my way, I wouldn't have been hurt!" That is true although I know I probably would have fallen anyway with how wobbly I had been from the get go without help. Seeing Gabriella pout some more, I can't help but grin, loving the fact that I could rile her up at will still. I pause as I catch myself using that word again… _loving_, _love_, _lovely_, _loved_… I've used them all in terms of Gabriella and how I see her, feel about her. Thing is, I keep trying to suppress it all because I know it's not right to feel this way about her. Not only is she my best friend but I have a girlfriend who I'm supposed to love, right?

"Cause you are so graceful you wouldn't have hurt yourself on your own, right? What about the time you ran right through the screen door, popping it off its track, when you and I were playing war in your house?"

Oh, she did not just bring up that idiotic injury of mine. My mom still makes fun of me every time we see a Windex commercial with the birds who think they can fly right through the glass. "Again, your fault. You were chasing me!" And, right on cue, she rolls her eyes at me. "You were always the chaser."

"And what does that tell you Troy if I was the one chasing you with a working toy gun with those fun Nerf balls? It means I was always the winner!"

Seeing that look on her face, a classic Gabriella look that tells me she thinks she has won, causes me to laugh even more, relieved to be feeling this light hearted again. "All right, I give you that, most of the time. God, how I really wish we could just go back in time and live the worry free life we had back then Ella. Things have always just been so good, so easy with you. I wish every girl I ever dated and date could be like you. Thanks Gabriella, for being such an amazing best friend to me. I'm one hell of a lucky guy to have not only two childhood best friends but one especially who is as special as you are. My life wouldn't be the same without you in it."

I reach over and pull Gabriella back into my side, where she belongs, feeling her adjust to our position again. "You mean quite a deal to me too Troy, a great deal. More than I think you could ever imagine."

Hope blooms in my… heart?... Is that right? Resisting the sudden urge to kiss the top of her dark head, feeling guilty in a flash because I shouldn't have even thought it while I still have a girlfriend, I settle for wrapping my arm a little tighter around her as I think to myself, "I understand that feeling more than you could possibly imagine Gabriella…"

_Has it ever crossed your mind when we're hangin',  
Spending time girl,  
Are we just friends, is there more, is there more  
See it's a chance we've gotta take,  
Cause I believe that we can make this into  
Something that will last,  
Last forever, forever_

After weeks of self-torture, feeling worse than dirt on the bottom of a muddy shoe, I now feel free, alive, and grateful. All right, maybe I'm going overboard… no I'm not! I just dodged two serious, life-altering mistakes at the same time. What can be better than that?

_I stood there as I watched Katherine basically attack Tony, strangely not feeling hurt or betrayed in the slightest. Instead, I felt amused. Just moments before, I had just said goodbye to Chad, Jason, and Zeke, who were still getting their stuff together after the game, walking to my car, when I spotted Katherine's familiar silhouette. Now, well, I couldn't get rid of the need to finally put an end to all the bullshit that existed between me and clearly my now ex. "Wow, you really weren't lying when you said Tony was interested."_

_"I told you there were other guys Troy. Other guys that are just as good looking as you and as talented." She speaks the truth, she did tell me that, but I guess I just had too much faith in what a girlfriend was supposed to be, someone faithful and trustworthy, to really have listened to her underhanded warning. I hadn't a clue that she intended to cheat, not even in just thought but actually stick her tongue down some other guy's throat cheat. This whole ending to me and Katherine seemed like it came out of a bad teen movie but I was strangely amused and had no qualms of letting that be known._

_"You know what's really pathetic? That I was trying so hard to please you, to make things right between you and me, that I honestly contemplated giving up my best friend for you a week and some odd ago. Thing is, every time I thought of cutting her out of my life, it felt like I was cutting out the fresh oxygen I need to breathe. I was trying so fucking hard to find a way to make us work Katherine when really, I just needed to see that you already moved on. You could have at least told me Katherine."_

_"I did, I warned you! It's not fun being on the receiving end of seeing your girlfriend flirt with a friend is it? I told you that it felt like shit!"_

_Did she really think that cheating on me with a guy I knew she didn't give the time of day to before a little while ago really compared to what I have shared with Gabriella? That it held a candle to my best friend, to someone who I deeply cared about?_

_"No, it doesn't feel like shit because what I just saw wasn't a girlfriend flirting with a friend or even a best friend. It was an ex-girlfriend making out with her new victim. Get over yourself Kat, there's a big difference between what you just did, what maybe you've been doing all along with Tony, and my relationship with my best friend, Gabriella."_

_"You've always loved Gabriella though Troy, admit it! We may be over but don't do me this disservice. Admit it!"_

_Katherine's accusation made me pause, it made me freeze. Yeah, I've thought about it, how I maybe did love Gabriella, but it's been easily dismissed as just thoughts of fancy in my head. Having heard the actual words though, spoken aloud, by someone else, was like cold water being thrown on me when I'm in a deep slumber. It woke me up. I knew it was the truth and I couldn't help but grin._

_"Maybe I have Katherine, maybe you've been right. Thing is, I was so into you that I pushed aside all those inklings. If it wasn't for your constant badgering me about it, things would have been different. I probably never would have stopped to really examine how I see Gabriella. Thanks Kat. Have a good night you two!"_

That was an experience I think I will always remember for the rest of my life and it's fresh in my mind now as I am driving to Gabriella's house, pushing my truck faster than it's ever gone. It was the moment I realized what I already had in my life, who I had in my life.

I need to talk to Gabriella, I need to know if I've really just been imaging all this or if this is real. Could it be real? Am I going to scare her off? Shit, what if I do really scare her off?

As I feel my truck protest against how hard I'm pushing it, I swear as it starts sputtering and then loses power on me, slowing my high speed down to a crawl before it stops all together. Crap! So not what I need right now. Come on baby, start again for me!

After trying to restart my truck a handful of times only to hear it sputter out, I realize that it's a goner, at least for now. Maybe it can be salvaged later on but right now, I can't worry about it. I need to get to Gabriella's and I need to do it now before this new revelation I have really sinks into my head and I begin to really think about what I'm doing. For once in my life, I was leading with the heart, my true heart, and it felt amazing.

For that reason alone, I had no problem locking my truck doors and taking off running the last few blocks to Gabriella's house, making sure only that I had my keys and my cell, not caring about the fact that I had left my truck without hazard lights on a fairly busy road, grateful at least that it was mostly to the side.

_"You've always loved Gabriella though Troy…"_

As I replay the memory of Katherine's voice slinging that phrase at me as if it was the dirtiest thing in the world, I find myself smiling more and more, despite the burn I was starting to feel from pushing so hard during my run without warming up.

After running forever, although I know it wasn't all that long, I finally make it to the Montez household. Looking at my watch, I know that my brainiac of a best friend was most likely still up studying for some big exam or something that counted for a huge part of her grade, the only reasons why she ever skips a game of mine. Not feeling like dealing with her parents if they are home, as much as I like and respect them, I choose in a heartbeat to go straight to the backyard, all too familiar with how to move around the side of the house and into the open backyard, taking a few steps out from under the balcony to see that Gabriella's bedroom light is still on.

Getting more anxious as I stand there, all the different scenarios of what could happen once I make it up on that balcony, ranging from outright rejection and ruining years of being best friends to complete ecstasy that Gabriella feels the same way, playing in my mind, I know I just need to go and do it.

Climbing the tree, I start coming up with excuses if she does freak out:

Oh, Gabriella, I was just kidding! Did you really think that I'd feel that way?

How did that speech sound? I want to try out for Ms. Darbus' new musical and wanted to run my audition lines by you.

Me? Love you? That's impossible!

With each excuse my pitiful mind comes up with, I recognize that I could never say any of that to her, no matter how much I may cause some rather weird moments between us. I've never lied to Gabriella, not when it was important and this, to me, is one of the most important things I have ever had to say to her.

I was putting myself out there by doing this I realize, literally too as I climb up on the last branch and quickly walk across to leap over the railing of the balcony. My heart is pounding a hundred plus miles an hour, my breath is coming in huge gasps, but I brush it all aside. She's so close, I'm just inches away from making all this real. Hearing Katherine say that I was in love with Gabriella made me realize that my crush was actually love, but the thought of me saying it aloud myself, to Gabriella herself, made it all that much more real, final.

Without another thought, I pound on her balcony doors after trying the door handles and finding them locked. "Ella! Gabriella! Please, open up!"

There is silence that greets me so I continue to bang until I hear her. "Troy?"

I almost fall through the doorway when Gabriella finally opens one of the doors, catching myself so she can't tell as I instead walk into her room. When I'm a few feet into her room, I turn and look at her and feel like I'm really seeing her, all of her, for the first time.

"Troy, what's wrong? What's the matter?"

Not able to do anything else but try to catch my breath now, I stare back at her, all the thoughts and plans that had raced through my head earlier now coming to a dead stop as the moment of truth was finally here.

"Troy?" she hesitantly asks. I see the genuine concern there in her brown eyes and kick myself for not having seen Gabriella for all she is before. Nope, like a complete idiot, you almost graduated high school with your best friend without realizing what a real jewel she is in your life. Now to find out if she feels even the slightest bit the same way.

"Ella? Gabriella?" I get out… Yeah, real smooth Troy.

"Troy, what is it? You're scaring me. Did you have a fight with Katherine? I know you've been bummed out about things with her but maybe…"

I shake my head, wanting to laugh at how cute she is, so understanding and sympathetic even when I acknowledge the fact that she never quite warmed up to my now ex-girlfriend. "It's not that, well it is but it isn't. Katherine and I are over Gabriella."

There is a moment where Gabriella's face goes neutral before that sweet, "I am so sorry for you" look shows up on her face. In fact, those exact words almost come out of her mouth next. "Troy, I'm so sorry."

Shaking my head again though, I silence her, forcing myself to do what I ran all those blocks to do, what I had to do. Slowly, I walk towards Gabriella and stop right in front of her, seeing her eyes widen a bit more as if she senses a change in me. God, I hope I don't smell from my sweating… shit…

Leaving those thoughts behind, knowing if I did it was far too late now, I push on, hesitantly reaching out a hand to cup her face, seeing my hand shake ever so slightly, something it has never done before when reaching out to touch Gabriella. I feel the softness of her cheek, seeing the natural rosy tint to them. "Ella, I need to tell you something."

I see her visibly swallow as she continues to stare at me, not even blinking. "What… umm…"

Before Gabriella can go any further, I lift up my other hand and place my index finger there on her lips, silencing her. "This has taken me a lot to realize, to admit to myself because you've been one of my best friends for as long as I can remember. We've learned to ride bikes together, we've learned how to bake some yummy cookies we concocted up that are our own only after busting your mom's hand mixer when we were eight. You taught me how to dance enough to not make a fool of myself at our first dance in junior high, you helped me dress for my first real date with that sophomore in our freshman year of high school. Every single big and fun milestone in my life involves you Gabriella."

I pause, needing to breathe again after that rush of words, hoping I was really making my point to her, glad to see her still looking at me, giving me all of her attention. Wait, are those tears in her eyes?

After blinking, I no longer see them and dismiss it to my mind playing tricks on me, focusing again on what I plan on telling her tonight, if I can ever get to my point. Licking my lips, I concentrate on her face, the way she is intently looking at me, waiting for whatever it is I have to say. "I have a crush on you Gabriella Montez. As inappropriate as it is since you are my best friend, having grown up thinking of you as not a girl but yet a sister, I can't fight it anymore, I can't run away from it. I'm in love with you Gabriella."

There is a short gasp followed by Gabriella raising her right hand to cover her heart, her eyes now bright with unshed tears that I know I'm not imagining this time. "Troy…"

I wait there with my breath held, resisting the instinct to back pedal, to retract everything I just admitted to her, declared to her. What could she possibly be thinking? Is Gabriella trying to think of a way to let me down gently? Is she feeling all weird now because she knows I have a major schoolboy crush on her? No, it's not that small, what I feel for her. I outright love her, no doubt.

As I brush away a tear that has finally escaped her eyes, I feel her tremble before she drags in air through her own lungs and… smiles at me! She's smiling at me!

"Troy, I've waited more than two years to hear you say that in person and not just in a dream or a fantasy. I've watched you date so many other girls, even check out countless more with Chad, and all this time I've been dreaming of the day you would open your eyes and see me, not as your best friend but as a girl who is in love with you."

Her confession doesn't make the grin on my face at that moment go away but it does make me ask, "Then why did you never say anything? Why did you wait for me to say something?"

She gives me one of her classic half smiles, shaking her pretty little head at me. "Because I didn't think you'd feel the same way. In fact, in the past couple of weeks, I sometimes wondered with the way you were acting so standoffish with me that you didn't like me even as a best friend. I was already resigned to graduate high school knowing that I had the biggest crush ever on my best friend and that I would never be able to do anything about it."

"God Gabriella, how much wasted time…" I start, realizing though that's a lie. No time with her ever is wasted. "I take that back. Every second you are in my life, via phone, email, in person, matters, it all matters and is so precious. You can crush all you want but I'm here telling you I love you Gabriella, my sweet Ella."

There, right there, I know I've seen the most beautiful image ever in my life, the bright smile on her face as Gabriella looks up at me with as much love in her eyes as I'm positive are shining from mine. The last thing I hear is the last thing I ever want to hear.

"I love you too Troy, my strong Wildcat."

With that, our faces inch closer, as if we are in slow motion, until our lips press softly together, sending shivers and yet warmth through my body. Opening my eyes briefly as I wrap my arms around her tiny body to pull her closer to mine, I see that she is just as affected by our first kiss, the first of millions to come. I run my fingers through her hair and hear her sigh, allowing me to deepen the kiss, feeling how much she trusted me with the way she left herself so vulnerable with me, just as vulnerable as she has made me to her.

No lie, this single kiss, well rather series of kisses now, have sent me to the moon and back and I know without a doubt in my mind that this is what we were meant to be to each other. It may have taken us years of being best friends, years and months of us crushing on each other, but in that moment I knew, with all my being, that we would be the greatest loves of each other's lives for the rest of time.

_Why do I keep running from the truth,  
All I ever think about is you  
You got me hypnotized, so mesmerized,  
And I just got to know_

_Do you ever think, when you're all alone,  
all that we can be, where this thing can go  
Am I crazy or falling in love,  
Is it real or just another crush  
Do you catch a breath, when I look at you,  
Are you holding back, like the way I do  
Cause I'm tryin', tryin' to walk away  
But I know this crush aint' goin' away, goin' away_


End file.
